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The Importance of Diversification

If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know that I enjoy the Self Publishing Podcast. They are probably one of the big reasons I finally have books up on Amazon. They are probably also a huge reason I keep plowing away at this novel that I’ve been working on since October. That, and the support of my friends, and my boyfriend, who all keep telling me I can do this thing.

The guys over on SPP talk about email lists a LOT. And they aren’t the only ones. Several of the authors interviewed on SPRT, Rocking Self Publishing, and Story Telling Podcast all say you should have an email list.

I resisted for a while, mainly because I didn’t think I could do a good job of it. I enjoy doing my blog, and sharing things through this medium. I figured if anyone really wanted to know what I had to say they could read my blog, or hit the subscribe button above, or at the very least subscribe to twitter where I announce everything. And lots of people do.

But it was something Johnny said on one of the latest SPP’s that really hit home. By not having a list I am risking everything going away, and none of my fans or readers will be able to find me. What if Amazon suddenly decided they didn’t want to do indie books anymore? Or what if they changed the terms of service and I couldn’t stand them anymore? What if wordpress just up and lost all of my old posts and accidentally deleted my blog? It could happen.

So really, I’m doing a disservice to my readers by not having a main mailing list where you can get basic information each week, or every other week.

Plus there is just the idea that diversification means more opportunities for us to talk and get to know one another. Spreading out my cyber wings, so to speak, and letting people get more chances to see something new and interesting.

So.. I’ve got a mailing list. Sort of. I signed up for it, and I’m figuring it out. Hopefully it will be available within the week.

I was thinking I’d do a weekly “around the web” through the mailing list, plus updates on progress of the latest book I’m working on, as well as new releases. I haven’t had a new release in a couple months though, so that’s frustrating.